Amazon has released a four-minute video showcasing how its new Amazon Echo cylindrical speaker works. However, while the product shows some promise, the awkward advertisement has already earned its own parody within hours of Amazon's posting.
Echo, which wakes up at the name Alexa, works pretty much like Siri or Google Now. It can provide answers to questions like "How tall is Mount Everest?" It can also play users' favorite music from Amazon Prime or other music streaming services, set reminders and alarm, and add milk to the user's shopping list when they run out. Unlike Siri and Google Now, users can do it all without taking Echo out of their pockets or tapping a button.
With three minutes and 55 seconds of pure, unadulterated Amazon cheesiness, pranksters sure found a lot of material to parody. YouTube user Barry Mannifold "edited" several of the clips to incorporate his own take on Amazon Echo, which Amazon most likely won't take pleasure with. However, many users seem to like Mannifold's version, which is already nearing 3 million views on YouTube, more than Amazon's.
Unlike Amazon's own Alexa, the parodied version exhibits an embarrassing dearth of knowledge that would make Siri and Google Now cry in shame over the state of personal digital assistants. Asked about the height of Mount Everest, Alexa makes a lame excuse for not knowing.
"Mount Everest is like probably the tallest mountain. I heard a guy died trying to climb it," she says.
And to makes matters even more hilarious, Alexa is a pretty irritable assistant, especially when she talks to mom. When mom yells from afar and asks Alexa what time it is, the cantankerous cylinder snaps: "It's time to calm the f*** down!" Then when mom asks Alexa to convert a tablespoon into teaspoon, Alexa refuses and groans how a woman her age does not know that a tablespoon contains three teaspoons.
Of course, such a grouchy piece of artificial intelligence also has its own brand of humor, although some could say it's bordering a little bit on the offensive side. When the kids ask Alexa to tell a joke, she gives them one that involves a black guy, a Jew and a prostitute. The parody doesn't give you a punchline, but it sure does not sound like a good one.
Here is two minutes of hilarious parody at the expense of Amazon.
And here is the original video.
